Malaysia: Combatting corruption not very successful

Malaysia went up just on notch to 53rd place in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2013 against 2012 despite much-trumpeted efforts to combat graft under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). The index describes preception of corruption in 177 countries.

In announcing the global index capturing perceptions of corruption in the public sector on December 3, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) claimed the level of graft experienced in the nation has “not significantly decreased”.

“Stronger measures and practices need to be enforced and must be taken to eliminate entrenched interests and processes that support abuses,” TI-M said in a statement.

Malaysia was ranked third among its ASEAN neighbours, with the regional list topped by Singapore, which ranked fifth out of the 177 countries. Malaysia shares the same score with Turkey, with Mauritius above the two, and below them Georgia and Lesotho.

High on TI-M’s concerns was selective non-investigation and non-prosecution, noting the lack of convictions in “high profile” cases. The group also highlighted the lack of open tenders or competitive bidding in the award of privatisation and mega projects. The average score worldwide was 43, with 70 per cent countries scoring less than 50.

Malaysia went up just on notch to 53rd place in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2013 against 2012 despite much-trumpeted efforts to combat graft under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). The index describes preception of corruption in 177 countries.

In announcing the global index capturing perceptions of corruption in the public sector on December 3, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) claimed the level of graft experienced in the nation has “not significantly decreased”.

“Stronger measures and practices need to be enforced and must be taken to eliminate entrenched interests and processes that support abuses,” TI-M said in a statement.

Malaysia was ranked third among its ASEAN neighbours, with the regional list topped by Singapore, which ranked fifth out of the 177 countries. Malaysia shares the same score with Turkey, with Mauritius above the two, and below them Georgia and Lesotho.

High on TI-M’s concerns was selective non-investigation and non-prosecution, noting the lack of convictions in “high profile” cases. The group also highlighted the lack of open tenders or competitive bidding in the award of privatisation and mega projects. The average score worldwide was 43, with 70 per cent countries scoring less than 50.